At least 8,500 protest over collective bargaining

Tuesday

Mar 1, 2011 at 12:01 AMMar 2, 2011 at 12:39 AM

Binding arbitration for safety forces would be replaced by a procedure giving ultimate authority over contracts to elected officials, according to a key provision of a massive amendment to a bill that would sharply curtail collective bargaining rights.

The 99-page amendment, outlined today at hearing of the Senate Insurance, Commerce and Labor Committee, also removes the right to strike for all public employees and establishes stiff fines for public workers who defy the no-strike ban.

"We're staying focused on reducing the cost of government and making Ohio competitive, and the first place to start is with our own budgets," said Sen. Shannon Jones, R-Springboro, sponsor of Senate Bill 5. "This bill gives power back to the taxpayer and restores flexibility to the management of their hard-earned dollars."

As an estimated 8,500 protesters demonstrated against the bill on the west lawn of the Statehouse, the committee met for about a half-hour to hear Jones outline amendments to her bill. The committee is expected to vote on the bill Wednesday with a vote on the Senate floor likely either shortly afterward or Thursday.

Firefighters, teachers, nurses, labor unions and others arrived this morning for the demonstration. By 10 a.m., they were chanting, waving signs and showing their opposition to the bill. The rally is expected to continue until 6 p.m.

The Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board isestimating thecrowd at 8,500. They don't keep formal records of protest crowds, but anecdotally, spokesman Gregg Dodd said, there is consensus this is largest crowd of its kind in at least 15 years.

Columbus firefighter Lt. David Blair said that for him, the issue is more than money.

"For me, it's about safety. Our fire gear is subject to negotiation. If they take away the tools to do our job, people will perish," he said.

The committee chairman, Sen. Kevin Bacon, a Minerva Park Republican, said he is confident there are enough votes on the committee to move the collective bargaining bill to the Senate floor, even though all four committee Democrats and at least one Republican, Sen. Bill Seitz of Cincinnati, are opposed.

Seitz declined to name other Republicans on the committee who might oppose the bill, although Jim Gilbert, president of the local police union,said he had talked with Sen. Jim Hughes of Columbus and said he was undecided. Hughes could not be reached for comment.

Seitz said he did not know whether Senate leaders would replace him and other potential no-voting Republicans on the committee.

Jones, who said there are enough GOP votes to pass the bill in the Senate and move it to the House, explained her amendment amid objections from committee Democrats that they had not had enough time to review it.

One key provision that Gov. John Kasich has insisted upon would replace binding arbitration for police and firefighters, the process in which a neutral third-party arbitrator is empowered to impose a settlement.

Binding arbitration would be replaced by a process in which a fact-finder agreed upon by both sides presents his or her findings. If an agreement is not reached within 14 days of publication of the findings, then the last best offers made by the government employer and the union are presented at a public hearing. At the end of the hearing, the government employer is required to accept either its last best offer or the union's.

Such an arrangement, Gilbert said, would almost certainly lead to a pre-ordained outcome in which the employer would approve its last best offer. But Jones said that public participation in the process would ensure that the union employees are treated fairly.

Although police and firefighters are already prohibited from striking, the amendment would eliminate the right to strike for all public employees. Those who go on strike anyway would have pay deducted at the rate of twice their daily rate of pay for each day of the strike. The penalty for violating a court injunction against a strike is a fine up to $1,000, up to 30 days imprisonment, or both.

Jones' original bill would require that public employees pay at least 20 percent of the cost of their health care insurance premiums, but the amendment reduces the amount to 15 percent.

The amendment also reinstates pay ranges for all public employees except police and firefighters, but eliminates automatic pay increases based on factors such as seniority and requires that any raises granted within the pay ranges be based solely on merit.

Teachers' salaries could still be bargained outside the proposed law's pay ranges, but any pay raises for teachers would have to be based on merit. Under the bill, teacher performance is measured by considering the level of license held by the teacher, whether the teacher is a "highly qualified teacher" as defined in law, which includes factors such as student performance and other criteria.

Teachers would be allowed to negotiate an initial contract of up to three years, with subsequent contracts ranging from two to five years.

Seeking to monetize the passion created by Senate Bill 5, Kasich and the leader of the Ohio Democratic Party today e-mailed fundraising requests to supporters.

Kasich's included a link to his campaign fund, saying he is trying "to give more power to the taxpayers of our state." State Democratic Chairman Chris Redfern's e-mail noted that it takes 17 votes in the Senate to kill the bill and asked for contributions of "just $17 to our efforts to get to the 17 votes we need."

Also yesterday, eight separate police and fire unions, organized under a group called Protect Ohio Protectors, sought to put pressure on GOP senators by publishing their comments supporting collective bargaining in a half-page Dispatch ad. The senators' quotes about protecting the right of public safety forces to collectively bargain were taken from 2010 and 2008 Fraternal Order of Police questionnaires.

Among those quoted in the ad were committee members Bacon, Sen. Tim Schaffer of Lancaster and Sen. Bill Beagle of Tipp City.

Bacon stressed that the bill protects collective bargaining rights and said he does not consider it inconsistent with his support for those rights.

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